Improved method of treating peat



UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE JOHN E. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING PEAT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent- No. 50,743, dated October31, 1865.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. SMITH, ot' the city, county, and State ofNew York, have inventedanew and useful Improvement in Treating Peat; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to makeand use the same.

This invention consists in treating peat with wet steam or alternatelywith wet and superheated steam, in contradistinction to treating it withsuperheated steam alone. By the action of the wet steam the fibrousparts of the peat are reduced to a pulp, and the soluble salts arepartially or wholly dissolved, and a product is ohtaim d which can bereadily compressed in the form of bricks or in any convenient form foruse, and which is of great value for fuel in furnacesof any kind or inmetallurgical operations.

In carrying out this process I reduce the peat into small pieces orpowder, and place it in a vat of metal or other suitable material, andthen I apply wet steam through the mass, which, being constantlyagitated by suitable stirrers, will allow the steam to come in intimatecontact with all its parts, and by the action of the steam the peat isreduced to a pulp which can be conveniently brought in the desired formfor use.

In some cases it may be desirable to apply. wet and superheated steam tothe mass in order todisintegrate the libers of the peat and to free thecarbonaceous matter from the adhering impurities.

By this process the peat is reduced to a compact mas which can bereadily transported to any distance, and which is of great value in manymetallurgical operations, or for fuel in furnaces of any kind.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Treating peat with wet steam, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. The application to peat of wet and superheated steam combined,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN H. SMITH.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, W. HAUFF.

